What is a “Retailer” in 42?

In 42, retailer is a broad role. It does not mean only “energy retailers.”
A retailer is any company that owns pricing and (often) distribution of electrification products or services and wants to sell them directly or via channels.

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Examples of retailer product domains

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• Electricity plans (residential / business)
• Solar panels, inverters, batteries
• Home energy-efficient appliances (heat pump HWS, HVAC, induction, smart panels)
• Bundles (plan + solar + battery + finance; appliance + install; etc.)

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A retailer in 42 typically has

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• A PIM + pricebook it controls (RRP, wholesale, margins, incentives)
• Postcode/region pricing (or NTC/service-area rules)
• One or more channels: own website, digital storefront, channel partners, affiliates
• Responsibility for lead intake → quote → hand-off / install / fulfilment

A retailer is not

• A pure content site with no pricing authority (→ that’s a Channel Partner)
• A forum group or social community (can plug in as a referral source)
• A payments/finance-only provider (can attach as a financing rail)

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What retailers can do in 42 (capabilities)

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PIM + Pricebook (single source of truth)

• Products, variants, specs, compliance factsheets
• Postcode pricing / region rules / margin rules
• Incentive mapping (VDO/DMO, STCs/VEECs, rebates)

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Bundle Builder

• Cross-category kits (plan + solar + battery + finance)
• Eligibility & attach rules

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Customer Portal & Widgets

• Co-branded portal (mobile-first) on your domain
• Address → Eligibility → Personalise → Save flow
• Quote Vault (save without account, magic-link)

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APIs & Integrations

• Channel Partner & Retailer APIs (plans, portals, quotes)
• Webhooks to CRM/MA (lead.created, quote.saved)
• Observability (analytics events, OpenTelemetry)

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Compliance & Evidence

• VDO/DMO alignment; factsheet ingestion (VEFS/retailer PDF)
• NTC/region mapping; audit trails

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Retailer archetypes (with concrete examples)

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• Energy plan retailer
  Use PIM (plans, tariffs), VDO/DMO math, factsheet ingestion, “Plan Hustler” list + filters, business plans with estimated-cost view.
• Solar/Battery installer (EPC)
  Hardware SKUs (CEC), bundles (PV + inverter + battery + finance), roof/region eligibility, VPP-eligible badges, quote hand-off.
• Appliance retailer (HWS/HVAC/Induction)
  Star ratings, rebate lookup, install scheduling hand-off, add-on wiring/upgrade items.
• OEM / Manufacturer (DTC + partners)
  Central pricebook, partner sub-views, co-branded portal per reseller, MAP/RRP guardrails.
• Council / Program admin
  Program-level pricebook (rebate-inclusive), verified supplier lists, campaign sub-views.

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Onboarding checklist (go live in days)

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1. Branding & domain: logo, colours, CNAME (portal.yourdomain.com)
2. PIM ingest: products/specs, factsheets, images
3. Pricebook: RRP/wholesale, postcode rules, incentives
4. Bundles: attach rules (battery, finance, add-ons)
5. Views: consumer portal + (optional) channel partner sub-views
6. Compliance: VDO/DMO, VEFS/factsheet mapping, audit copy
7. Integrations: CRM/webhooks, UTM tracking, analytics events
8. UAT: address → eligibility → personalise → save → hand-off
9. Go-live: Remote Config toggles, alerting, dashboards

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Metrics that matter (retailer lens)

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• Save-quote % (target ≥ 35%)
• Eligible → Personalise % (≥ 40%)
• Quote acceptance % (12–18% with incentives surfaced)
• Battery/attach rate (eligible ≥ 35–50%)
• Time-to-quote (< 90s from eligibility)
• CAC (↓ 20–30% vs prior baseline)

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Quick FAQs (seed for docs)

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• Can I set different prices by suburb/postcode?
  Yes—postcode pricing and region rules in the pricebook.
• Can I show only part of my catalogue on a partner’s site?
  Yes—sub-views for channel partners (scoped syndication).
• Do I have to force sign-ups?
  No—save without account (magic-link). Higher completion, less friction.
• How do leads arrive?
  Webhook/API to your CRM with address, grade, usage (if shared), chosen bundle.
• Are calculations compliant?
  Yes—VDO/DMO-aligned; we store evidence and assumptions.

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Where to go next

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• Want to be a retailer in 42? Start with PIM + pricebook + postcode rules, then publish your co-branded portal.
• Want distribution but not pricing control? You’re a Channel Partner—use syndicated views, widgets, and our APIs.

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